My marriage with Pastor Ayo still intact - Helen Oritsejafor

There is no truth to the rumours of the divorce of a popular pentecostal pastor Ayo Oritsejafor from his wife, Helen, according to the latter.

On a Facebook page on Monday, Mrs Oritsejafor described the rumours of the divorce as fake and malicious.

Days back, the Nigerian social media space was abuzz with the recent news about the former President of the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) allegedly divorcing his wife of 25 years.

According to the reports, Pastor Oritsejafor, the founder and Senior Pastor of Word of Life Bible Church, has ended the marriage on the grounds of infidelity.

The news stated that Ms Helen left their matrimonial home and relocated to the UK with their children, while the Pastor returned to the house after abandoning it for a long while

Infertility allegations have also trailed the union.

However, laying the rumours to rest, Ms Helen, the President-General of the Daughters of Sarah Fellowship, said that the news is unbelievable, reprehensible and unthinkable, and it’s vital that she make the facts clear.

“I am a wife, a mother and a woman of God, and I uphold the tenets of my Christian faith and marriage. My family and home is the essential part of my life.

“I, therefore, appeal to everyone to put our interest and that of our lovely kids above the need to profit from this baseless endeavour. My husband and I are not divorced unless people get divorced on social media, and I have never been unfaithful to my husband, whom I love very dearly,” she wrote on Facebook.

Ms Helen, the Chief Host of ‘Family tips’ on the Daughters of Sarah Kitchen Corner TV programme, ascribed the rumours to attempts by the devil and his agents to dent her character and good works.

She also stated that over the years, she had committed her time and resources towards reaching out to the needy, supporting widows and giving scholarships to orphans.

“I have also taught and mentored a lot of young women on the principles of building and living happily with their spouses through my various platforms both on and offline. I cannot go against my own beliefs.

“Don’t forget that life is a seed. To carry baseless news not supported is not only malicious but punishable under the law of the land,” the host of ‘Mama Helen and You’ talk show on ABN Africa added.

Ms Helen, the CEO of Eagle Flight Microfinance Bank, encouraged the general public to give her family the privacy it needs and disregard cheap attempts to dent her image, promising to take all necessary legal actions against the perpetrators.

Opeyemi Falegan, a socialite and younger brother to Helen Oritsejafor, had, some days back, refuted the news of the divorce.

In a post on his Instagram page, Mr Falegan, who once dated actress Nkechi Blessing, debunked the news, stating that his sister is not divorced.

He wrote, “My sister is not divorced and will never be Divorced. This claim is without evidence, as some media outlets framed it; before you share a story, kindly spend a moment evaluating the evidence.

“Attaching our family name (Falegan) to infidelity is not only disgusting but abhorrence and unacceptable; falegan families are known for their strong moral principles.”

Pastor and Mrs Oritsejafor, who married in April 1997, share a unique love story.

In a recent interview, Ms Helen recalls that before relocating to Nigeria from the UK, she was a single lady doing business in London.

She said that one day, God spoke to her to return home. According to her, the voice was powerful, and she obeyed.

She also heeded the voice of God to visit an orphanage every Thursday and take care of the children there.

It was at that point in her life that she met and got married to a man whose heart, she said, is more significant than this world.

Before meeting Helen, the preacher was married to Stella, with whom he established Word of Life Church on November 15, 1987.

Stella died in March 1996 from complications relating to diabetes.

Thirteen months after his first wife, Stella, died, Pastor Oritsejafor married Ms Helen.

The couple is blessed with three children; Ayodele Joseph, Ayodeji, and Ayodeta.